At Home in Philadelphia

Domestic Life & the Drexel Colony

Anthony J. and Francis A. Drexel lived in Philadelphia their entire lives, while their brother Joseph resided in New York. Aside from taking long holidays and traveling for business, the three men’s lives revolved around the management and development of Drexel & Co. and its partner branches. As the population of Philadelphia fluctuated during the mid-19th century, wealthy Philadelphians started to move west of 7th Street and into North Philadelphia and Rittenhouse neighborhoods. And, though it was not fashionable at the time, Anthony J. Drexel decided to move his family west of the Schuylkill River, to 38th and Walnut Streets. He bought up a city block where he could easily create a nest of homes for his family, referred to as the “Drexel Colony.”

The Drexels moved between homes within city limits, seasonal residences in rural Pennsylvania, and those along the larger East Coast. Most notably, George W. Childs and Anthony J. Drexel and their families shared a home in Long Branch, New Jersey, next to the vacation home of Ulysses S. Grant.

Learn about some of the staff and laborers who helped the Drexels maintain their privileged lifestyles here:

Domestic Labor in 19th-Century Philadelphia

Service in a Private Home: William Quirk and Mary McFadden

Click here to go to our Drexel staff index to link directly to content about other individuals.

Learn more about the Drexels by discovering their homes and important family sites. Select a point on the map to browse photographs and items. Read the following pages to learn more about some of the Drexel homes.